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Microsoft Security Bulletin (MS00-008)

Patch Available for "Registry Permissions" Vulnerability

Originally Posted: March 09, 2000
Revised: April 14, 2000

Summary

Microsoft has released a tool that installs tighter permissions on three sets of registry values in Windows NT 4.0. The default permissions could allow a malicious user to gain additional privileges on an affected machine.

Frequently asked questions regarding this vulnerability can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-008.mspx.

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General Information

Issue

This vulnerability involves three sets of registry keys whose default permissions are too permissive. These permissions could allow a malicious user who could interactively log onto a target machine (or,in one case, access an affected machine from the network) to:

•	Cause code to run in a local system context.
•	Cause code to run the next time another user logged onto the same machine.
•	Disable the security protection for a previously-reported vulnerability.

These three key sets are not related to each other except by the fact that their permissions should be tightened. A tool is available that will reset all of the affected keys to the correct default value.

Affected Software Versions

•	Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
•	Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server
•	Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server, Enterprise Edition
•	Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server, Terminal Server Edition NOTE: Windows 2000 is not affected by this vulnerability.

Vulnerability Identifier: CAN-1999-1084

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Patch Availability

•

Intel: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AB792154-6BBD-4D27-9C87-8C7689BD908F&displaylang=en

•

Alpha: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=AECBDFA7-D641-4FE7-A799-9D5C4F103DB2&displaylang=en

Note: This tool also covers the vulnerability described in MS00-024.

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More Information

Please see the following references for more information related to this issue.

•	Microsoft Security Bulletin MS00-008: Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/fq00-008.mspx.
•	Microsoft Security Bulletin MS99-025, Unauthorized Access to IIS Servers through ODBC Data Access with RDS, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms99-025.mspx.
•	Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 103861, INFO: Choosing the Debugger That the System Will Spawn, http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;103861.
•	Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 185590, Guide To Windows NT 4.0 Profiles and Policies (Part 5 of 6), http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;185590.
•	Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB) article 184375, Security Implications of RDS 1.5, IIS 3.0 or 4.0, and ODBC, http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;184375.
•	Microsoft TechNet Security web site, http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/default.mspx.

Obtaining Support on this Issue

This is a fully supported patch. Information on contacting Microsoft Technical Support is available at http://support.microsoft.com/contactussupport/?ws=support.

Revisions

•	March 09, 2000: Bulletin Created.
•	April 14, 2000: Bulletin Revised.

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